Skeletal muscle is an electrically and mechanically active tissue that contains highly oriented, densely packed myofibrils. The tissue has self-regeneration capacity upon injury, which is limited in the cases of volumetric muscle loss. Several regenerative therapies have been developed in order to enhance this capacity, as well as to structurally and mechanically support the defect site during regeneration. Among them, biomimetic approaches that recapitulate the native microenvironment of the tissue in terms of parallel-aligned structure and biophysical signals were shown to be effective. In this study, we have developed 3D printed aligned and electrically active scaffolds in which the electrical conductivity was provided by carbonaceous material (CM) derived from algae-based biomass. The synthesis of this conductive and functional CM consisted of eco-friendly synthesis procedure such as pre-carbonization and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) catalysis. CM obtained from biomass via hydrothermal carbonization (CM-03) and its ash form (CM-03K) were doped within poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) matrix and 3D printed to form scaffolds with aligned fibers for structural biomimicry. Scaffolds were seeded with C2C12 mouse myoblasts and subjected to electrical stimulation during the in vitro culture. Enhanced myotube formation was observed in electroactive groups compared to their non-conductive counterparts and it was observed that myotube formation and myotube maturity were significantly increased for CM-03 group after electrical stimulation. The results have therefore showed that the CM obtained from macroalgae biomass is a promising novel source for the production of the electrically conductive scaffolds for skeletal muscle tissue engineering.

骨骼肌是一种具有电和机械活性的组织，含有高度定向、密集的肌原纤维。组织在受伤时具有自我再生能力，这在体积肌肉损失的情况下是有限的。已经开发了几种再生疗法以增强这种能力，并在再生过程中在结构和机械上支持缺陷部位。其中，根据平行排列结构和生物物理信号概括组织的天然微环境的仿生方法被证明是有效的。在这项研究中，我们开发了 3D 打印对齐和电活性支架，其中导电性由源自藻类生物质的碳质材料 (CM) 提供。这种导电和功能性CM的合成包括环保合成程序，如预碳化和多壁碳纳米管（MWCNT）催化。通过水热碳化 (CM-03) 从生物质中获得的 CM 及其灰分形式 (CM-03K) 掺杂在聚 (ɛ-己内酯) (PCL) 基质中，并 3D 打印以形成具有排列纤维的支架，用于结构仿生。支架接种 C2C12 小鼠成肌细胞，并在体外培养过程中受到电刺激。与非导电组相比，在电活性组中观察到肌管形成增强，并且观察到电刺激后 CM-03 组的肌管形成和肌管成熟度显着增加。